Did Ann Coulter Defend American Nazis in This Tweet?
Ann Coulter used Twitter Monday to compare Nazis favorably to African-American activist Al Sharpton, adding another tweet to a string that have generated immediate backlash.
Total # of deaths connected to American Nazi Party in last quarter century: ZERO; Total # of deaths connected to Al Sharpton: 9 I know of.
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) November 22, 2016
Coulter’s remarks came on the heels of an “alt-right” conference in Washington, D.C., where activists threw up Nazi salutes and shouted Third Reich slogans like “Hail Victory,” the English translation of Seig Heil.
Some Jewish groups have said President-elect Donald Trump, whom Coulter backed in the election, is too close to the fringe group, a sentiment that grew stronger after the appointment of ex-Breitbart News chief Steve Bannon as head White House strategist.
Coulter drew fierce backlash for the post, with critics accusing her of expressing support for Nazis and defending the “alt-right.”
Perez Hilton, the celebrity news king, in a widely reposted Tweet, wrote, “Ann Coulter is now a Nazi sympathizer? ‘Excuse me while I grab a bucket of water and hunt her down!”
Singer Tameca Jones indicated a similar feeling. “@AnnCoulter defending Nazis? Girl you need to get the bottom of my shoe,” she wrote on the social media site, attaching a cartoon photo of a woman killing a pest with bug spray.
Coulter has said that Muslims should be forcibly converted to Christianity and that Jews could be ‘perfected’ through baptism. She called former presidential candidate John Edwards a homophobic slur and said the United States would benefit if women were disenfranchised from voting.
Coulter doubled down on her tweet in response to the criticism. “The point, brainless sack-of-sh*t, is that Nazis (not connected w/ GOP) = irrelevant; MSNBC’s Sharpton (connected at hip to Dems) = 9 dead,” she wrote.
Contact Daniel J. Solomon at solomon@forward.com or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO